The shore along the sea!

I remember the time when Madras changed its name to Chennai. Vaguely. I mainly just remember how weird Chennai felt on my tongue. So that’s what I am supposed to call that place, I had wondered. Today, after 18 years, I have gotten used to calling it Chennai, and the word in itself has more meaning that just a piece of land in southern India.

All my life, I have only called Chennai my home, home town, native place and all such similar words. Even as friends and relatives reminded me that I was born in Trivandrum and bought up in different states, I never relented. After all, home is an emotion, a feeling of attachment and not a place specified on the birth certificate.

I grew up in Chennai. In phases! The Thiruvanmiyur beach phase, the Bessy phase, the Marina phase describing my childhood, teenage and early 20s respectively!

I spent my childhood in the cozy confines of Thiruvanmiyur. The sea is an old friend I often go back to! I learnt English. I learnt to say sollu instead of chollu. And when we left for Bangalore, for the first time, I learnt that goodbyes were hard.

When I came back in my teens, a lot had changed. My Dad’s cellphone had color display, Cozzee at Bessy had a new sign board and people were going gaga over Gilli! Out of love and familiarity, we hunted for a house in Thiruvanmiyur again. Very close to the sea.

 On December 26^th 2004, we, along with our flat-mates, watched in amazement as the sea we knew and loved reared up in anger. No one understood the significance until later that Sunday when news channels screamed about the terror the tsunami had caused.  We got over it very soon like we humans always do.

The teenage years in Chennai went away in cool breezes on hot summer afternoons in school. In the tree lined roads of Indira Nagar we loved and fought and gossiped and enjoyed with friends. In a black cycle, I conquered Adyar! Cycling to the library, I would always treat myself to a coke on the way. That was the time when we would dig through bags for Rs.28, as a cheese sandwich in Adayar Ananda Bhavan cost that much! Those were, after all, slices of happiness before boring hours of tuition! In the holidays we hung out at “Bessy”, munching away at bajjis. The size of the gang dwindled, but a couple of us still go there and talk of the time when Rs.28 was a big amount!

This time, leaving was harder. So I visited in the holidays, often walking around with bags like a vagabond. A few days with grandparents in Guduvancheri, a few days in Nanganallur, and later some great days in the city, with a friend! Local trains and the FM were my best friends! I saw sunsets over the dirty Cooum and even that looked beautiful to a heart that ached for Chennai!

When I finally got to come back, for my PG (and I had decided, forever), we settled in Nanganallur and I travelled to Santhome, a black active being my faithful steed! Here I dabbled in the love for arts, design and all things remotely related to the same! A small group or students learning Advertising Design, we always hung out together. We ate at Meenakshi Bhavan for lunch and the Alsa Mall sandwich shops served our dinner. But a close friend and I saved our best stories for Sandy’s. After all, chocolate goes best with spice! Fridays and weekends though, were spent in the air conditioned corridors of EA or the wonderfully comfortable seats in Satyam. No movie was missed. Butter was never spared from the popcorn.

The Marina of course formed the centre of this chapter.

From the roof of our college, we would gaze at the blue sea past Jesus with his hands held open. The dulcet tunes from the mosque accompanied me to Kapaleeshwar kovil and religious differences, or the lack of it, took on a new meaning.

If the smell of fish doesn’t bring back fond memories, you have never loved in Chennai! The frolicking sea at Marina heard all of the dreams of the future and also provided the background music for some of the best and worst days.

After college, I fervently hunted for a job in the same city. 2014 bought with it a new phase. The working phase. I landed a dream job in a place that has become as much home to me as Chennai. I drive a beat up Alto now. I can afford Starbucks on my own money and yet, the emotion behind Chennai doesn’t go away.

Life still gets chronicled by ARR songs. I swear by punch dialogs. Bajjis are still a major part of my diet. And old friends still remain, like the sea that changes color as per your mood.

I don’t dream of Far Far away. My dreams are dawara tumbler sized! I just want to live, actually LIVE in this city which is as strong, hot and rejuvenating as a shot of filter kaapi!